small, cheap, sounds great.

potential for mis-alignment

i went to the house of fraser in the metro centre, gateshead, because me and my stereo were both broke and i had a store card. i had in mind a budget of £200 to get something that wouldn't offend my ears, so i took a cd of dark side of the moon and listened to every system in the store at near maximum levels. the sa-pm01 blew my socks off. nothing for under £300 came close, AND this thing was priced at £129.99 AND 10% off in the sale. total £116.99. totally excellent sound, perhaps slightly thin in the midrange, but i find playing with the bass/treble can more or less compensate though it varies from cd to cd. Problems began when i moved house. suddenly cd's skipped like mad and it started to make a regular clonking sound. it was out of guarantee by this time so i ripped it apart. i don't know what caused the problem, but it seemes that the thingumajig in the lid that holds the cd onto the spindle was off-centre. i checked everything but there was nothing broken and nothing to adjust. in the end i enlarged the hole in the assembly that holds the thingumajig (after unscrewing and prising off the lid which is also glued on). this seemed to fix it. at the price i will probably buy another before they discontinue it. it is currently sold here as the SCPM03 priced at £148.99. still a bargain, highly recommended.

Similar Products Used:

sony

Sound, style, value

Limited volume control. Buttons on remote are small.

I was looking for a small CD player to replace an aging portable. I also wanted something WITHOUT a cassette and that was simple and straight forward to use.
This little unit met all of these criteria.

It is not fair to compare this to a full blown stereo system, however for what it is, the sound is very good.

It is perfect for a small room or "background" music system.

The design is simple and clean. No useless flashing lights or fancy features. Panasonic concentrated on quality not quantity of sound and features.

I remain very pleased with this little unit.

I bought this system about six months ago when my old Denon Celena shelf system finally gave up the ghost. I was looking for something that wouldn't take up much space on my bedroom dresser, and didn't have all the flashing lights and disco EQ settings that most minisystems have. I listened to the JVC "executive" systems and thought they were too expensive and the single cone speakers had no bass. Found the Panasonic system at several stores for the same price ($199.95) and finally bought it at "The Edge in Electronics". So far I'm very happy with it. The main receiver/CD player is a handsome, cube-shaped unit that doesn't draw too much attention to itself. The speakers are small but surprisingly solid, much better quality than the fiberboard and plastic throwaways that come with most mini-systems. They have a simulated rosewood finish that's very attractive and rubber feet that keep them from marring the furniture. They also look very good with the grill covers off. They have 4 inch woofers, a port in back and what I believe is a cone tweeter behind a finned dispersion "lens". As for the sound, I find the system very pleasant to listen to. The speakers aren't going to produce gut-wreching bass, obviously, but there's enough bottom for a good balance. The highs aren't the ultimate in clarity but the overall effect is pleasing. The speakers image well, but I don't know if the acoustic lenses contribute to that. I'm getting tempted to tinker with the speaker innards to see if I can improve the sound a bit. First I'd replace the thin speaker wire that goes directly to the drivers (no outside connection). Then I might add some stuffing inside, like synthetic fill or carpet cushioning foam. And I might take off the tweeter lenses to see what effect that has. Bad points? The black-on-blue LED readout is impossible to read from across the room. It only plays one CD at a time (but the way the top lid gently pops up to accept a disk is very cool). And it doesn't have a tape deck, but you can hook your Walkman up through inputs in the back. All things considered, if you're looking for a good sounding mini-system for your bedroom or office, this unit is much better than traditional minisystems at the same price, and also beats the JVC models for 100 dollars less.

Radio sound quality, real speakers.

CD player, display

This is a follow-up to the review I submitted several months ago. On a lark I took the system off my dresser and brought it into my living room, sticking the speakers on high stands with adhesive putty. Tuning the radio to the local jazz and classical music stations, I was absolutely amazed at the smoothness and transparency of this system. Compared to my bigger and more expensive stereo this mini-system was nearly equal in every respect except low bass. Even so the little speakers could put out a surprising amount of clean bass for their size. The highs were surprisingly clean for speakers with cone tweeters, and the soundstage was impressively wide. Voices were outstanding, partly because the speaker's crossover is 6K, well above the vocal range. There's sometimes a bit of hollow coloration because there's no stuffing inside the speakers, but the overall sound is so clear and smooth that the coloration seems to vanish after a few minutes. And this great sound is coming from speakers that are hard wired with cable about the thickness of a twist-tie. The CD player is a little disappointing by comparison, it sounds grainy in the upper treble, probably because in such a small box it's too close to the amplifier section. Hooking a portable player through the AUX input with a long cable might result in a cleaner sound, but I didn't try it.
If you're looking for a great sounding shelf system for listening to jazz or classical radio in a bedroom or den, I can't see spending 100 dollars more for that box from Bose.

Great bang for the buck; R&D money went into doing a few things right, instead of adding thousands of useless features. Takes up very little shelf space.

Poor audio out connection... not good for adding a subwoofer

This mini-malist system really puts it out! Originally my brother and I bought this for my dad to use in his office. My mom liked it so much, she got one for her bedroom. And needing something for my dorm room, I couldn't think if anything better. So now we own three amongst the four of us. My brother would probably get one too if he didn't have a house full of high-end audio equipment.
For under 200 bucks, I dare anyone to find a system that sounds better. Placement of the speakers has much to do with the bass due to the rear ports, but once they're set up right, I find it hard to justify the Bose 201's hooked up to my pioneer receiver at home. I was planning on eventually hauling that whole system from San Fran to Philly, but now I have no reason.
One reviewer found the highs "too grainy". I disagree. This may be a symptom of placing the speakers too high; the baffles on the tweeters are intended for the speakers to be placed at ear level. Bass is NOT lacking. I would expect much less from a system this small. I did buy an Acoustics Research 8" sub, but found that the audio outs on the system were not sufficient for this application. Such a shame!
The problem today with this type of "all included" system is that people look for the bigger and better, and overlook the system that does everything you need, and does it all WELL. Companies like Aiwa have filled this corner of the market with useless gizmos like digital equalizers, extremely over-rated power outputs, UltraGigaMega bass ports, and of ALL things, casino games on the displays!!! I tell the manufacturer to give it a rest, and remember to accomplish what the customer is shopping for: QUALITY MUSIC REPRODUCTION.
Anyway, I'm sure nobody has read this far, but if you have... buy this system. You won't regret it.

Similar Products Used:

Sony, JVC, Kenwood, Aiwa

I bought this for my wife in the kitchen, and have to say I think it is excellent.Nice compact speakers fit easily on top of the kitchen units with the deflectors on the tweeters still able to push the high frequencies down to ear level.
I have to agree with other reviewers that the volume is a little limited, but what do you want from something this small ?

Recommended.

For it's size and price, this is a great little machine. I got it because it was small, inexpensive, had a CD and tuner, a clock, and an alarm. What more could you ask for? And as a bonus, it looks really nice, has excellent sound quality, is simple to use, and has nice features like being able to set the volume of the alarm independant of the last time it was on. Very nice.
My only complaint is the colours that Panasonic choose for the display. It is very hard to read, especially in the dark. It looses a star for that. Am I being picky, or what??

Solid sound for it's size, great price

No optical out for digital recording, thin speaker wire

I found this unit for a great price of 100 bucks plus shipping on Ebay, and I can't be happier. The unit sounds really good for it's size, and makes an excellent bedroom or office stereo. Aside from a few things, I am very happy with this unit.

Similar Products Used:

JVC